OTHER BOOKS

WHEN THE EARTH WAS FLAT

Remembering Leonard Cohen, Alden Nowlan, the Flat Earth Society, the King James monarchy hoax, the Montreal Story Tellers and other curious matters

READ ABOUT THE ROYALS IN EXILE

l. to r. The Duke of Northumberland, King James III, the Prince of Fortara and the Archibishop of Canterbury. As revealed in the book, when secretly mingling with commoners they were accustomed to assume the identities of Raymond Fraser, Jim Stewart, Alden Nowlan and Leo Ferrari.(Photo by Frank Prazak)

BLURB
In this collection of nineteen memoirs, essays and sketches, Raymond Fraser writes of a variety of fascinating subjects, including Leonard Cohen, Alden Nowlan, Leo Ferrari, Hugh Hood, Queen Elizabeth II, Bob Dylan, John Metcalf, Lord Mountbatten, Al Pittman, Irving Layton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Santa Claus, the Flat Earth Society, the notorious Stewart Monarchy in Exile, Halloween on the Miramichi, tabloid journalism, New Brunswickers in Hollywood, evangelistic miracle workers and assorted eccentrics met along life's way. Published by Black Moss Press, Windsor, Ont. Sept 2007. 162 pp.

"Reading When The Earth Was Flat is next best thing to a voyage of discovery, a ride on a runaway train, the thrill of a roller coaster, and a front row seat in the theatre of the absurd. This wonderfully entertaining book is the work of a gifted and accomplished author." — The Guardian

"It is superb. Remarkable!" — John Moss, FRSC, author and founding editor Journal of Canadian Fiction

"A highly original voice that is occasionally sad, sometimes very comic. A real pleasure to read." — Vancouver Sun

"This insightful, powerful and comedic writer has been hailed by Farley Mowat as the best literary voice to come belling out of the Maritimes in decades."
— Telegraph-Journal

"One of the most gifted writers I know, and among his gifts are two that all too rare: a zest for life and a sense of humour." — Alden Nowlan

"When The Earth Was Flat is a collection of autobiographic snapshots—a mosaic of memoirs, histories, essays and short stories of almost poetic intensity which are held together by Fraser's ubiquitous sense of humour and idiosyncratic eye. For those of us who have read all his books it is an added treat to our collection. For those who have never read Fraser, this is the book to begin with, and doubtless, the rest of the author's library will follow in its tracks. Raymond Fraser has many distinctions as a writer. As a novelist, story writer, poet, biographer and journalist, he has been called New Brunswick's greatest living writer and one of Canada's foremost authors. His novel The Struggle Outside easily fits into the top-ten list of Canada's all-time greatest books and The Bannonbridge Musicians was runner-up for the Governor General's Award in 1978.
— Bernell MacDonald, author, Birds of Passage, etc.

If you can't find the book in a store near you (and far as I know it won't be in Chapters-Indigo-Coles, just smaller independent stores), there are signed copies NOW AVAILABLE at Fraser Books Inc. Just click here:
Fraser Books

Raymond Fraser and Yvon Durelle in Baie Ste Anne.

Cover of the first edition of my book The Fighting Fisherman (Doubleday, 1981). There has also been a French edition, Le Boxeur Qui Venait de la Mer, and two other English editions, the latest from Formac Publishing in 2005. Yvon Durelle died on January 6, 2007.

__________________________________________________________

I've been given a niche in here, along with a few other people (roughly 12,600). Sherlock Holmes will be able to look me up now, next time he's on my trail.

Visitors:

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: Hello! I am just putting your signing on the Westminster Website. if you could go to EVENTS and click on your, just give me a hollar if there are any changes. www.westminsterbooks.com

glorianickerson@hotmail.com

thanks!
gloria; August 21, 2007 at 12:08 PM
Heather said...: Hello mate nnice blog; November 13, 2024 at 6:29 AM

FELICITATIONS

A SAMPLING OF EMAIL CONGRATULATIONS ON OUR HUMBLE AUTHOR'S STUPENDOUS FEAT OF CAPTURING THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR'S $20,000 AWARD FOR HIGH ACHIEVEMENT IN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE LITERARY ARTS. IT WAS GIVEN FOLLOWING THE PUBLICATION OF HIS NOVEL IN ANOTHER LIFE.

From: Sheree Fitch
To: Raymond Fraser

Rayyyyyyyyymond : WAHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
As one of your long time fans, you know you have been an inspiration to me, and I send huge hugs of congrats. So well deserved and I need to get your latest---
I am REALLY glad you sent this. Life is short and it gladdened my day -- the news... and the smiling face... "Black Horse Tavern" was re-read again this summer. Maybe our paths will cross again at some point --- again, take care --- so happy for you ---celebrate!
your comrade in words, sheree (fitch)
________________
From: Tom Scanlan
to: Raymond Fraser

Well ain’t that something! I have been meaning to send you a note anyway to tell you how much I enjoyed “In another Life”. It’s your best ever, I think.. .so if you continue to get better with age, let’s hope you live a long life. Congratulations. You deserve the accolades…cheers/tom
________________
From: Noreen Hood
To: Raymond Fraser

Ray, I'm so happy for you, not only because you've received praise and recognition for your work, but also that there is real money along with it. That's the right way for things to happen.
Your email has finally more or less forced me to sent the email that's been buzzing around in my head ever since I finished your marvelous "In Another Life".
I kept it beside my bed and took a long time to read it because I didn't want it to end. I loved every well placed word of it. I know Hugh would have had a wide grin of approval while reading it, a grin of such satisfaction in your writing that it would have lasted even through the touchingly sad parts.
Yes I am pleased, even tickled pink for you. Be delighted and keep on spreading the word. It will make a lot of people pleased and tickled pink along with you.
With big hugs of admiration and love
Noreen
__________________
From: Claudine Nowlan
To: Raymond Fraser

Congratulations on your award. It is about time people recognized what a great writer you are.
Love, Claudine and John
________________
From: Marty Gervais
to: Raymond Fraser

Wow!!!! Way to go!!!!
Marty
________________
from: Linda Hersey
to: Raymond Fraser

Hi Raymond, congratulations! I am always pleased to see a recognition of this calibre go to its rightful place.
Take care,
Linda
_________________
From: Betty Ponder
To: Raymond Fraser

And justly deserved too. I loved your book and totally agree with all the good things people are saying about it. I was talking to Tom Crothers the other day and he was asking about your book; I'm going to send him a copy. I know he will think it is as great as I do.
Betty
_______________
From: Lorna Crozier
To: Raymond Fraser

Congratulations, Ray. This is wonderful news, and a good photo, too.
Warmest,
Lorna
_______________
From: Clark Blaise
To: Raymond Fraser

Congratulations, Ray; all good things come to him who waits, no? I'm waiting, too. Clark
____________
from Tony Tremblay
to Raymond Fraser

Congratulations, Ray. The honour is well deserved. Tony
_______________
From: Patrick Lane
To: Raymond Fraser

Ray, you old Reprobate! Good on you. I'm proud of you and your staying, amazing talents. Your picture is great. You look more than alive, a bit of a pirate, a writer as well! Keep well.
best
patrix
_________________
from: Lyman Ward
to: Raymond Fraser

Ray, I'm awed by this long overdue and deserved award for you. I have no idea who the Lt. Gov is but we'll all toast to his generosity. You have worked long and hard at your craft and it's time you got this recognition. Congratulations.
Lyman
_____________
from Gerald Comeau
to: Raymond Fraser

Hi Ray,
Congratulations. To say you earned the award is an understatement. It only takes a few hours to read a great book and it's all enjoyment. Writing a great book is another story.
Best Regards,
Gerry
________________
From: Sarah Hood
To: Raymond Fraser

My mom forwarded your email to me and I wanted to write and say how happy I was to hear you'd got the prize and particularly the money. I think your writing is great and massively under-recognized. Also, I remember you well from my preteen days when I used to go to a lot of Montreal Storytellers gigs, and I'm delighted to know that that fellow with the hair-raising story about the Screech and the nipple is being honoured by the Queen's representative.
Hooray!
Sarah (Hood)
_______________
From: Micah ODonnell
To: Raymond Fraser

Hey Ray,
Wanted to email you to say congrats on the award. The big bucks now, hey? You deserve it for "In Another Life", it is a great book. This is what you deserved years ago. Again, congrats, I am happy for you.
Micah

THE BANNONBRIDGE MUSICIANS & ALICE MUNRO

A SAMPLE POST FROM MY FACEBOOK SITE

Scanned my pre-computer era novel, THE BANNONBRIDGE MUSICIANS, and spent a month and half giving it a thorough overhaul, upgrading it from Very Good to Great (or thereabouts). This book was runner-up for the Governor General's Award for 1978, just barely missing the winner's trophy. I had two of the three judges voting for me, but the third, Margaret Laurence, out-muscled them and gave it to her friend Alice Munro (inside info passed on by one of the judges to my then-publisher, Breakwater Books). I didn't really mind, as I recall; I had too many other things to deal with at the time. Today I see it as simply part of the path I was on, and as such had its purpose, as everything does.

And as a consolation, there's this quote I came across recently: "If entered in a literary competition, try to win the Second Prize, for the First is always awarded by favour... The Second goes for pure merit." — Miguel de Cervantes

That first and only edition of Bannonbridge has been out of print since 1980, and I've been wondering if there's a publisher out there who might be interested in bringing out a new (revised) edition.

While I'm holding my breath waiting I'll pass along some comments people have made about the book. [Since this post went to press a new edition of the novel has been released by Lion's Head Press. See cover photo below.]

"The Bannonbridge Musicians is outrageous, relentlessly funny, and unforgivingly accurate." —Mark Frutkin & Brian Jeffrey Street, Editio Books Online

"It's a book of soul and spirit. Its characters are real and vibrant, enjoyable and maddening." —Trevor J. Adams & Stephen Patrick Clare, Atlantic Canada's 100 Greatest Books

"Above all the book is ALIVE. This, in the final analysis, is the best test of any work of art. It moves and vibrates with all the dynamic energy of the mighty Miramichi River, that great river that flows through the colorful country of the lives of the novel's characters." —Dave Butler, Miramichi Press

"It's well-written, it's touching, it's full of life, and it's funny." —Andre Vigneault, CBC Radio

"A rollicking story, well told." —William French, Globe & Mail

The essayist and critic, Eugene Peters, has said he reads the book over again every year, it's such a favourite. And recently a sober-today gent (a distinguished photographer) said when he read it many years ago it inspired him to become an alcoholic! (how's that for a plug). It's still one of his favourites.

PS: Since I posted this Alice Munro has won the Nobel Prize. I haven't been informed yet but I imagine I came in second.

REVIEW OF "BLISS and Other Stories".

THE SEARCH FOR BLISS STOPS HERE
By Eugene Peters
August 20, 2014

"Bliss" is the name of one of Raymond Fraser's latest books. It was also the name of one of his many and varied friends – a lovable lout, whose funeral (even though he was hardly an accomplished man) was one of the biggest in the Miramichi area. "People just liked him," the author writes. And in that, I believe, lies a good part of the efficacy of Raymond Fraser's work, his uncanny ability to cause the reader to relate to characters whose redeeming qualities are not always apparent, while leaving us with the unnerving feeling that we know these characters all too well. Intimately.

"Bliss and Other Stories" is partly autobiographical, and takes us on many journeys in the never ending quest for adventure, excitement, and happiness. We all search for happiness – no matter how much it hurts. Fraser's work often brings the seamy underbelly of life to the fore: he writes in a gritty, no holds barred in-your-face (yet amusing) approach that illuminates every crack and dark place in the human experience. And he is in the trenches himself, inviting you in. And you can't help but go – like it or not.

I like it.

Fraser's "Bliss" is full of adventure – often misadventure. From his native Miramichi to Upper Canada, his tales – whether they be about friends and acquaintances he has encountered over the years, or about his own personal experiences - make for a good read. He writes about a horrific, ill-informed, misguided scheme for a fast buck that has one poor sot getting his head blown off. An ill-advised attempt to run off with the bounty of a drug deal has one man dead and our protagonist driving away for his life.

He writes about the slow deterioration of his Father's health – eventually succumbing to senility in his twilight years. He writes of his sister's descent into various states of psychosis with a kind of casual compassion, a casualness born of years removed from the circumstances and much time to reflect. He writes of his experience in military training – bootcamp – and the people he meets there are fleshed out in such an elaborate way we begin to feel we recognize them, that we know them from somewhere. And finally, Fraser writes about his spiritual experiences that gradually lifted him to place where he could see all the aforementioned with a fresh new perspective – a clean and sober outlook.

All a fun and insightful read. But my personal favourite bit is the "dream sequence". This tale, "McNutt's Dream Girl", moves with the speed and fluid feel of a dream, but you don't see it to the very end. The main character, Anderson McNutt. finds himself at church desperately trying to endure a whole service while nursing a dreadful hangover. He escapes the building – not without much spectacle – and comes across a beautiful young woman outside. She is very sympathetic to his situation and agrees to drive him to the nearest drinking establishment. But it is Sunday after all (our man had failed to make the connection between Sunday service and Sunday) and all the watering holes are closed. Our girl then offers – miracle of miracles – to take him to where she is staying. Where she is staying is the town's "mansion on the hill" – you know, every town has one, a house you never get to see the inside of. But he is going there, with the beauty leading the way. Their time alone gets even better as she changes to jump into the pool while McNutt enjoys the plentiful variety of liquor at the bar. This is when the dream turns to nightmare. Just when things were going to get really good with his new found delight, who should appear but his "girlfriend". A chase ensues, where our man – already having many reservations, now filled with conflicting emotions – is led away by our beauty through seemingly endless flights of stairs and rooms. No matter where they go, the almost gleeful girlfriend bars the way and mocks their attempts to get away. Then, he wakes up.

All good things must come to an end and when something seems too good to be true.... well. It's one of those stories when one says to himself, "I should have known it had to be a dream, all too surreal." But Raymond Fraser does a great job of keeping us not quite sure.

This review just barely touches all that is in this book. I do hope it whets your appetite to read it.

FAME

APRIL 20, 2014
I see where the Nova Scotia writer Alistair MacLeod died today. I met him once, about six or seven years ago, at Government House when a mutual friend was being given an honour of some kind. I saw him standing by himself and went over and said, "I'm Raymond Fraser, I do a bit of writing myself."
"Yes, I know," he replied. "I know who you are."
"You do?"
"Of course. You're famous."
It was nice of him to say so, but if it's true it's the first I heard of it.
Friend: "I'd like you to meet Raymond Fraser, the famous author."
Stranger: "Honored, I'm sure. Famous author.... I don't believe I've heard of you."
Me: "It's that kind of fame."

BILL KAUFFMAN

June 18, 2012

A lot of media coverage lately about a movie called COPPERHEAD that's being shot at King's Landing, featuring stars like Peter Fonda and our friend Keith Ruttan. The film is scripted by Bill Kauffman, the well-known American author and frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal.

Last year Kauffman traveled to New Brunswick to inspect the shooting location for “Copperhead”, and while there worked with King's Landing artistic director Michelle Daigle, who later sent me the following email (which I pass along, since the two names just happened to come up here).

JULY 24, 2011 - MICHELLE DAIGLE TO RAYMOND FRASER:
"By the way, I did some work with Bill Kauffman this summer. Since he was visiting New Brunswick he wanted to acquaint himself with local authors. He loves your books!!!"

A man of taste and perspicacity, no question about it, and one whose endorsement should inspire those who haven't yet read a book of mine to get off their hind quarters and do so immediately if not sooner.

http://www.facebook.com/raymond.fraser

Leonard Cohen & Bob Dylan

What with the recent demise of Leonard Cohen, and Bob Dylan's getting the Nobel Prize for Literature not so long before, you might be interested in reading my story about conversations I had with Cohen in 1965 (it's in my book When The Earth Was Flat). I don't want to appear immodest, it's just not my nature, but I have to think that this piece was the germ of Dylan's getting the Nobel Prize. If not I'm going to take credit for it anyway. The first edition of my book came out in 2007, and before that people would have thought of Dylan as qualified for an award in music, but not literature. Here's a quote from my story, taken from a section where I recount Cohen's opinions on various literary subjects:

"He [Cohen] said the only real poetry of the past thirty years was in the lyrics of popular songs. And Bob Dylan was the best poet alive today."

There's more on the subject as you read along.

An Interesting Question

An intelligent, well-educated and widely-travelled young gentleman from British Columbia told me he'd read several of my books and liked them so well he bought four others, which he's now reading and enjoying.

It's always a pleasure to hear something like that.

He also said he'd read a novel by Robertson Davies and another by Michael Ondaatje, having heard they were important Canadian writers, but was greatly disappointed. Then he started one by Margaret Atwood but said it was such poor stuff he gave up after forty pages. What he wanted to know was: who are the other great Canadian writers besides Raymond Fraser – the real ones, not those who are just supposed to be, like the three mentioned above?

Now, those are his words, not mine, since I'm scrupulously cautious about expressing opinions in such matters, for fear of appearing immodest and -- as people are fond of saying these days -- judgmental (heaven forbid!). But he does raise an interesting question. Who indeed are the high-quality writers, and why are they so well-hidden?

MY FACEBOOK GRUMP ABOUT BACKUP BEEPERS

A lovely sunny morning, or should have been. I set out for a stroll but didn't get very far up University Street before I was driven back by an ear-splitting BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! from a hydraulic lift cleaning windows on an apartment building behind the Lady Beaverbrook Rink. I changed course and went down by the river but didn't get far before an earth-mover on the other side of the river let fire a barrage. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!. I got to the trail bridge and another hydraulic lift appeared in front of me fixing a roof. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! You could hear all these alarms for miles. At that point I went back home. No bird songs, no wind in the trees, no peace.
It's awful to be a the mercy of these infernal toys.
They aren't safety devices. They have nothing to do with safety. They're simply gadgets that appeal to types who love things like motorcycles without mufflers and stereos cranked to the maximum and other such infantile amusements.
Hydraulic lifts have a 360 degree view of what's around them. They're up in the air where the only thing they might run into is a bird (which is highly unlikely -- they couldn't hit a bird on the wing if they spent all day trying); so what is the noise about? You might ask the same of other vehicles that have them, like snowmobiles, Zamboni machines, lawn-mowers, and wheelchairs (I'm not kidding).
Well, what it's about is noise pollution for profit. That's all, the sum total. And governments at all levels are guilty of aiding and abetting the environmental miscreants who sell them by making their use mandatory, with stiff fines attached.
I don't have space or time here to go into why these gadgets serve no safety purpose on ANY vehicle -- I've done that elsewhere anyway [right here, in fact: to see my thoroughly researched study of the offenders just scroll down to INVASION OF THE KILLER BEEPERS; or use "Find" and search "beeper"]. Or go to a Facebook page I devoted to the problem, called "Backup Beeper Menace".

That's my grump for the day, for all the good it will do.

SOME FRASER E-BOOKS

My 2008 novella & story collection, THE GRUMPY MAN, is now available at Amazon.com as a Kindle ebook, selling for $2.99! If you own a Kindle Reader or Mobipocket Reader or the like and haven't read anything of mine (or if you have but not this one) why not give it a try?
http://www.amazon.com/THE-GRUMPY-MAN-ebook/dp/B005C68D9C/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&qid=1310494862&sr=8-24

My short novel, REPENTANCE VALE, is also a Kindle ebook on Amazon.com (even cheaper, $2.99 -- practically free).

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DMM2QK

And so is WHEN THE EARTH WAS FLAT, for just $3.69:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005GLJXV0

ALAN PEARSON (1930-2012)

Just learned from his wife Doreen that a friend of mine, Alan Pearson, has died. I knew Alan from the sixties and early seventies in Montreal where with fellow poets Irving Layton, Leonard Cohen, Bryan McCarthy and others he was part of the spirited Montreal literary scene. When I was in Spain in 1983 and had a villa outside Denia, he and his wife Doreen had a place nearby (a converted windmill), and I spent a good deal of time with him then. I hadn't heard from him for some time but in recent years we got back in touch via telephone and emails. Alan had a host of severe ailments and over the past decade endured a lot of pain but never lost his love of reading and writing. In 2010 he published two fine books of poetry "Freewheeling Through Gossamer Dragstrips" and "Exploring Amazement".

For some bio information check here:
http://www.wmpub.ca/1040-amazement.htm

And to see some of his poetry go here:
http://lionsheadpress.blogspot.com/

TOP TEN BOOKS

The Top Ten Books of 2009, as chosen by the distinguished critic, Stephen Patrick Clare. (I think he put mine there at number 8 because that was my old hockey number. I think they're in alphabetical order [Annabel #1, Hal #2, Jeff #3, etc]. Or sort of alphabetical. He may have been in a hurry and put a few in the wrong places.)

The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon (fiction)
The Peep Diaries by Hal Niedzviecki (non-fiction)
Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller by Jeff Rubin (non-fiction)
The Bishop's Man by Linden MacIntyre (fiction)
The Boy in the Moon by Ian Brown (non-fiction)
The Ice Passage by Brian Payton (non-fiction)
The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (fiction)
In Another Life by Raymond Fraser (fiction)
Away From Everywhere by Chad Pelley (fiction)
Scrabble Lessons by Leslie Vryenhoek (fiction)

WHAT'S HERE

Book news, photos, capsule reviews, links, Flat Earth Society stuff, "Back-Up Beeper-Toy Menace" essay, ball & hockey teams, favourite songs, advice to the lovelorn... no telling what you'll find. The most recent material is not necessarily at the beginning.

After you've looked around you might want to slip over to Lion's Head Magazine to see the latest issue which includes such illustrious poets as Alan Pearson, Shari Andrews, Judy Bowman, Marshall E.O., Frankie Mckibbon and Robert Smith.

And the issue before that devoted to...
The Raymond Fraser / Bernell MacDonald Letters
Relating Principally to Ernest Buckler
(with some interesting references to Alden Nowlan, Fred Cogswell, Margaret Atwood and the US Invasion of Iraq).

And while you're at it check out the previous Winter/Spring issue featuring Robert Hawkes backed by a line-up of poetry super-stars.

Lion's Head Magazine

MARGARET ATWOOD TWITTER EXCHANGE

Eric Myers ‏ @needalegacy to

@MargaretAtwood Have you read any of Raymond Fraser's books? http://raymondfraser.blogspot.ca/

Margaret E. Atwood ‏ @MargaretAtwood to Eric Myers

@needalegacy: Great to see this: http://raymondfraser.blogspot.ca/ Ray was one of the Originals, back in the early @HouseofAnansi days...

It's all very well for her to be dropping my name, but I don't know how House of Anansi comes into it. I've never had anything published there. Maybe she meant in the days when she did, if she did.

BESTSELLING AUTHOR PRAISES BOOK

"If you’ve been around Fredericton for awhile, or are familiar with some of the Canadian literary lights that passed this way, especially in the late 60s and into the 70s; or if you've ever been amused by Alden Nowlan's work, or the Flat Earth Society; or if you've ever wondered what Leonard Cohen was like before he became an international sensation; or if you've ever had dreams of grandeur, or tried your hand at writing yourself — or if you've ever wrestled with the lure of alcohol as a soother of nerves and restorative elixir.... If you fall into any of these categories, you won't be sorry you picked up Raymond Fraser's book WHEN THE EARTH WAS FLAT... It's a terrific read, highly amusing and very informative, and a valuable record of a time and place that's familiar to many of us... If you're feeling a little frugal, buy it and read it carefully, and then give it to some friend or relative as a gift!"
— Glenn Murray, author, Walter The Farting Dog, et al.

TEN FAVOURITE SONGS

This list, like a book or movie list, is very hard to do. I've collected a lot of my truly favourite songs on CDs, and I've got 115 of them. I'm going to feel like a swine for leaving the other 105 out. They're not going to forgive me quickly.
In truth I'd rather have listed my 115 favourite songs, but the Telegraph-Journal asked me to do this and to keep the number to ten. The songs aren't in order of preference, necessarily. I've put them in alphabetical order because I don't want to cause enmity within the ten by ranking them.
And why did I choose these particular songs, what reasons? Reasons come from the head, and music like all art is appreciated by the heart. So I have no reasons. Some songs bring back sensations of earlier times, usually romantic, but obviously that's not why I liked them to begin with. Some had poetic lyrics but not all, so it wasn't that. I think it's because they were like chocolate ice cream. I have no intellectual reason for liking chocolate ice cream but I do!

"Gloria" — sung by Laura Brannigan
"It Was A Very Good Year" — sung by Frank Sinatra
"Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" — sung by The Weavers
"Mack the Knife" — sung by Louis Armstrong
"O Mio Babbino Caro" (Puccini) — sung by Amira Willighagen
"So Sad" — sung by The Everly Brothers
"Total Eclipse of the Heart" — sung by Bonnie Tyler
"Un Bel Di, Vedremo" (Puccini) — sung by various sopranos
"Unchained Melody" — sung by Al Hibler, Bobby Hatfield, or the Time Breakers
"Yesterday When I Was Young" — written & sung by Charles Aznavour

SOME OTHERS...
- Mr Bojangles (N.G. Dirt Band--never liked group's name though)
- A train they call the city of New Orleans (Johnny Cash)
- That old time rock 'n roll (Bob Segar)
- Who'll stop the rain (Creedence Clearwater)
- The Riverboat Queen (Creedence Clearwater)
- And the band played Waltzin' Matilda (Luke Kelly/Dubliners)
- The travelling people (Luke Kelly/Dubliners)
- Help me, Rhonda (Beach Boys)
- The sloop John B (Beach Boys)

D.H. Lawrence and Thomas Hardy (June 11, 2008)

Here's a portion of an old letter I ran across that I wrote to Alden Nowlan in 1963 and didn't send. I'm guessing the reason I didn't send it is because Thomas Hardy was one of his literary heroes and I didn't wish to offend him. If so it was one of the few times in my life I employed such discretion.

Dear Al,

What set me off is a quote from Louis McNiece, very condescending, concerning D.H. Lawrence. It was in an anthology of poems edited by Kenneth Allott, another sterile type, who writes, "There is a large, probably too large, Lawrence literature, so that it is only necessary to note a few salient facts of his life, such as his qualifying as a school teacher..." Allott goes on to say Lawrence derived his verse form "directly from Whitman", stating that this way of writing poetry strikes him not as "a highway of poetic development [Herbert Read] but as a cul-de-sac".

In this book McNiece says of Lawrence: "As D.H. Lawrence was well slapped down in the twenties by Wyndham Lewis there is no need to take another slap at one who..." and so on. Just a pile of horseshit.

The reason I'm big on Lawrence these days is I took up The Rainbow from where I'd bogged down in it previously, and I must have quit at the magic point, because the last 250 pages contained some of the best writing I've ever encountered. The chapters "First Love" and "Shame" I doubt have been surpassed anywhere.

I also read an essay on Poe he wrote which is very good. It's in a book of his stories, essays, letters and poems.

But you said you like Thomas Hardy, as many others also say, including Salinger in CATCHER IN THE RYE. But I don't myself. I found TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES pretentious and tiresome. It's like a barnyard soap opera penned by someone who has great difficulty in expressing himself. Hardy has a very clumsy roundabout style, and never uses a small word when he can substitute a big one. Because of his status I kept coming back at the book, and by great persistence reached page 230, but that was the limit. I skimmed the remainder to see what happened, and it approximated what I figured, although "Angel Clare" walking hand-in-hand with "Liza Lu" went even beyond what I anticipated. No self-respecting soap opera would have gone that far.

For my money Hardy isn't a natural writer. His dialogue is deplorable -- I doubt I've ever read worse -- and his vaunted descriptions are false, bookish and convey no picture whatever. I believe he was about forty when he wrote this, and already established, so the novel is not the work of a beginner. He just has no ear for words, no eye for pictures, and no feel for what people are really like...

With best regards,
Ray

In the years following I attempted several other Hardy books, and I have to say my opinion of 1963 still stands. That is not to say it's a crime for someone else to like him. People like all kinds of strange things, or claim to. I think Alden's attraction to Hardy was due to their common background. They were poor country lads who had to make their way against long odds. I can remember Alden saying he disliked Somerset Maugham's writings , and when I asked why he said because Maugham parodied Hardy in CAKES AND ALE, treating him like a country bumpkin. That Maugham was by far the better writer didn't seem to matter.

I should add that I picked up a copy of Lawrence's KANGAROO last summer and had to take a gun and put it out of its misery. It's a pitifully poor piece of work. I suppose every great writer comes up short at some time or other. It hasn't happened to me yet but that doesn't mean it won't! (Guess I'll just have to keep an eye on myself).

Favourite Authors

In my book, WHEN THE EARTH WAS FLAT (Black Moss Press, 2007) I provided a list of my favourite authors, but I forgot a couple, and there was one I hadn't read yet (Frank McCourt). So here are the additions:
Frank McCourt -- Angela's Ashes, 'Tis, and Teacher Man.
Georges Simenon -- The Complete Maigret Novels, and a number of the "psycological" novels.
And finally, cousin George MacDonald Fraser -- The Flashman series of novels (maybe he's not my cousin, at least not a close one)
William H. Prescott -- The Conquest of Mexico and The Conquest of Peru.

MOVIE RECOMMENDATION

A movie I recommend is NOISE (2008), written & directed by Henry Bean and featuring Tim Robbins with help from Wm Hurt and Bridget Moynahan. It's entertaining, has some funny moments, but mainly it highlights the problem of NOISE... The only thing missing is, they didn't give me a credit. Surely Mr Bean got his inspiration from certain of my writings…

Carla Gunn: Loved that movie. Was thinking of it again the other day as city workers power-hacked all the wild roses growing along the school field (for what?!) and neighbours'lawnmowers roared like greedy dementors. (I am never without a set of ear plugs, though - neon orange ones always in my bag wherever I go.)

Raymond Fraser: I plug music into my ears when I go out. One remembers the soothing summer sound of the motorless lawnmowers of old, clickety-clicking along. Good to see some citizens have brought them back, but not in my neighbourhood where the power mowers rage daily. The city even has mowing machines with backup beepers on them!

RAYMOND FRASER on Facebook Oct 28, 2011

Watched a piece of crap movie last night called THE BOX. I'm a Frank Langella fan, but an actor can only do so much. Reason I mention it is the credit list at the end... Must have been a thousand people employed in various capacities to make that worthess film, and of course millions of dollars invested... and yet I've seen one-man shows (like the guy who did Robbie Burns the poet) that require one person to write and perform and another to raise and lower the curtain, and the end result is so much better... infinitely better. I'm sure movies could be done simpler and cheaper... the main thing is, a good script!

The guy who did the Burns show might have been Jack Whyte... Saw the performance live, I believe, back in the hazy days... not sure where.

“ Jack Whyte was born in Scotland in 1940, and migrated to Canada in 1967, where for twenty years he earned his keep as a professional singer, an actor, a musician, advertising man and an entertainer, including a one man show on Robbie Burns, which he took on tour throughout Canada.” (Wikipedia)